The US Flag Got Weird When Michigan Became A State

We love flying the red, white and blue over the Fourth of July holiday, but did you know that Michigan's admission to the Union in 1837 made the US flag get a little weird?

Michigan became the 26th state in January of 1837, and when they added the 26th star to the flag of the United States, it became a little weird and a little wonderful.

For a brief time after Michigan's admission to the union, it was okay to experiment with the design of the US flag, so although most of the nation saw the standard line by line depiction of the national banner like this:

National Archives

There was another flag, known as the Great Star flag, that was making the rounds and it featured 26 stars in a star pattern, with a giant star in the middle and stars of descending sizes around it. It was certainly one of the most unique flags in our nation's history, if not the most unique.

National Archives

There also was something called the arrowhead flag, which featured stars pointing to the right, surrounded by other stars like this:

National Archive

Unfortunately, none of this shenanigans lasted long, as new states were being admitted to the Union at a fast clip and eventually Congress made the lines of stars pattern official, like on the current US flag.

But for that brief, shining moment, we had the weirdest flags in our history, all thanks to Michigan.